1 dead, 15 injured as Russia strikes university and surrounding area in Kyiv, Ukraine says
Five of the injured are students or university staff, Zelenskyy said.
LONDON -- A Russian attack on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, killed at least one and injured another 15, according to Ukrainian officials.
Ballistic missiles hit crowded areas where there are no military facilities nearby, causing "extensive" damage, hitting a university campus and the South bridge amongst other urban structures, Kyiv said.
Five of the injured are students or members of the university's staff, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. The number of injured climbed to 15 on Tuesday, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine said.
The strike on Monday was described by Ukraine as an attack on its civilian infrastructure, which it continues to say is threatened by delays in the delivery of defense munitions.
"The artificial and prolonged delays in the delivery of interceptor packages for Patriot and NASAMS systems, which unfortunately have occurred recently, are directly helping Russia achieve the objectives of its terrorist campaign," Zelenskyy said on Tuesday on his social media account.
Russia launched 16 ballistic missiles, two of which Ukraine shot down, Kyiv said. The attack also included at least 255 drones, according to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Russia's Ministry of Defense said its military had targeted Ukraine overnight with a "massive" strike aimed at the Ukrainian defense industry and "transport infrastructure" in Kyiv.
The ministry said in a post on Telegram that it struck "an industrial enterprise producing and storing long- and medium-range unmanned aerial vehicles" in the Ukrainian capital.
In Desnyans'kyi District, where the University stands, five of the victims are students and university staff, officials said.
One of those injured is a 20-year-old woman, who has been hospitalized, according to Kyiv’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko. The strike also damaged part of the campus, Kyoto Park, a nearby metro station and residential buildings.
Rescue operations are underway as there are reports that people may be trapped under the rubble.
There were also strikes on Ukrainian cities: Vinnytsia, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Odesa, Chernihiv, Sumy, Donetsk, Kherson, and Chernivtsi, wrote Zelenskyy. Missiles targeted energy infrastructure, logistics centers, and urban facilities, Kyiv said.
"Pressure on Russia and real support for Ukraine are needed to change the situation," wrote Zelenskyy.
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